Effect of 12 weeks of aerobic training combined with Ginkgo biloba supplementation on serum levels of lipocalin-2, total antioxidant capacity, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in obese middle-aged men

Naghizadeh, Hasan

doi:10.48308/joeppa.2025.237509.1309

Effect of 12 weeks of aerobic training combined with Ginkgo biloba supplementation on serum levels of lipocalin-2, total antioxidant capacity, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in obese middle-aged men

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Hasan Naghizadeh

Department of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ardakan University, Ardakan, Iran

10.48308/joeppa.2025.237509.1309

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Exercise combined with nutritional interventions has beneficial effects on reducing inflammation, improving antioxidant defenses, and increasing brain neurogenesis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 12 weeks of aerobic training combined with Ginkgo biloba supplementation on serum levels of lipocalin-2 (Lcn-2), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in obese middle-aged men.
Materials and Methods: The research design was semi-experimental and applied, which was conducted with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. Thus, 56 obese middle-aged men (body mass index, 32.34±1.41 kg/m²) were selected through simple random sampling and randomly divided into four groups (n=14 per group) including aerobic exercise+placebo, Ginkgo biloba supplementation, aerobic exercise+Ginkgo biloba supplementation, and placebo. Aerobic exercise intervention (26 minutes at 75-85% of maximum heart rate reserve) was performed for 12 weeks, 3 sessions per week. Ginkgo biloba supplement (in the form of 80 mg gelatin capsules) was consumed twice daily (simultaneously) one hour after breakfast for 12 weeks. Blood samples were taken before and 48 hours after the last training session in a 12-hour fasted state to determine serum concentrations of Lcn-2, TAC, and BDNF. The data were analyzed using the analysis of variance test with repeated measures, two-way analysis of variance and Post hoc Bonferroni test at a significance level of p≤ 0.05.
Results: Within-group comparisons showed that serum Lcn-2 levels significantly decreased in the exercise (P=0.0001, 12.69%), supplement (P=0.037, 4.05%) and exercise-supplement (P=0.0001, 18.49%) groups. Serum TAC levels increased significantly in the exercise (P=0.012, 4.68%), supplement (P=0.048, 1.51%), and exercise-supplement (P=0.001, 6.92%) groups. Serum TAC levels increased significantly in the exercise (P=0.012, 4.68%), supplement (P=0.048, 1.51%), and exercise-supplement (P=0.001, 6.92%) groups. Furthermore, serum BDNF levels increased significantly in the exercise (P=0.0001, 35.15%), supplement (P=0.046, 8.07%) and exercise-supplement (P=0.0001, 41.73%) groups. Significant between-group differences were observed in Lcn-2 (P=0.0001), TAC (P=0.014), and BDNF (P=0.0001). The combined effect of exercise and Ginkgo biloba supplementation caused a significant decrease in Lcn-2 (P=0.0001), and a significant increase in TAC (P=0.0001) and BDNF (P=0.001). The main effect of exercise was a significant decrease in Lcn-2 (P=0.013), and a significant increase in TAC (P=0.001) and BDNF (P=0.015). However, the main effect of Ginkgo biloba supplementation was not significant on Lcn-2 (P=0.241), TAC (P=0.103), and BDNF (P=0.316).
Conclusions: The results showed that aerobic exercise and Ginkgo biloba supplement have beneficial effects on the biological activities of the body. Twelve weeks of aerobic exercise alone and especially with Ginkgo biloba consumption probably reduces inflammation, increases antioxidant defense and brain neurogenesis accompanied by improving body composition and aerobic capacity in obese middle-aged men.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Sport nutrition

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